Graduate School Guide | Herge, Chan, Podkowirow, & Lai
Applying to
Graduate School in Psychology:
A Professor’s
Perspective
pplying to graduate school in psychology can seem like a
daunting process. Given the extremely low acceptance rates
(approximately 32% for PsyD programs and 7% for PhD
programs), it is not surprising that many prospective applicants
have questions regarding the application process generally, as
well as specific queries regarding ways to make themselves more
appealing and successful candidates (Kohout & Wicherski, 2010).
In an effort to help guide prospective applicants, we conducted
an interview series with Annette M. La Greca, Ph.D., a professor
of psychology and pediatrics at the University of Miami, and
an expert in the fields of peer victimization, youth internalizing
problems, youth trauma exposure, and pediatric diabetes. Dr. La
Greca graciously provided her opinion regarding the psychology
graduate program application process, as well as specific tips for
interested students.
Part I of this series focuses on how to find the programs and
mentorship that best match your needs, and the benefits of
pursuing a career in the field of psychology. Part II of this series
will focus on the application process specifically, wherein Dr.
La Greca describes her ideal prospective graduate student and
discusses the key elements of a strong application (including GPA,
GRE, CV and personal statement).
A
Whitney M. Herge MA, is a third year clinical psychology PhD
student (Pediatric Track) at the University of Miami working
with Dr. Annette La Greca. She earned her bachelor’s degrees
in both psychology and English from Boston College, graduating
Summa Cum Laude, and earned her master’s degree in general
psychology from The American University. Ms. Herge is currently
working on her dissertation, which is focused on identifying
peer victimization profiles through latent profile analysis, as
well as examining the prospective relationship between peer
victimization, anxiety and somatic symptoms in adolescents.
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EYE ON PSI CHI | WINTER 2012
When choosing a psychology graduate program, what
criteria should an applicant consider?
La Greca: I think there are many issues you could consider. It
is important to ask yourself what you want to do in the future,
because that will narrow down the types of programs that you
consider. For example, if you want to do predominantly clinical
work, you might consider a graduate program such as a PsyD
program, which is a doctorate in psychology—this is a very
practice-oriented degree. If you see yourself engaged in research,
you should consider a PhD program. You should also consider
a PhD program if you want to do a combination of research and
clinical work.
Once you’ve taken into account your future goals, the next thing
to consider is your specific area(s) of interest. Are you interested in
children, adults, or health populations? Are you more interested in
psychopathology research within the clinical area, or are you more
interested in intervention research? Identifying those specific areas
of interest will also help to narrow the programs to consider and
identify the more appropriate matches.
Beyond that, you need to look for programs that have people
who are actively doing research in the area in which you are
Sherilynn F. Chan, BA, is a second year clinical psychology
graduate student (Pediatric Track) at the University of Miami
working with Dr. Annette La Greca. She earned her honours
bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of British
Columbia. Sherilynn is interested in risk and resilient factors
as they relate to children’s and youth’s psychological and
physical health. Her current research is focused on examining
the relationship between peer victimization and adolescent
substance use, and the moderating roles of gender and peer
aggression.
COPYRIGHT © 2012 PSI CHI
interested. For example, if you have interests in the area of child
psychopathology, you should look for programs that have people
doing research in the child psychopathology area, as well as course
work and practica that are related to that area. If you are interested
in health oriented research, then you should look at programs that
have affiliations with medical schools or with medical settings.
Additionally, if you are interested in clinical work, you should
check the accreditation status of the program, because it will be
much easier to become licensed as a psychologist if you attend
a program that is accredited by the American Psychological
Association (APA). Some states require APA accreditation of
graduate training for licensure; some employers also require that.
Further, completing a non-APA accredited internship (which
is more likely to occur if you do not attend an APA accredited
graduate program) may be limiting in terms of job choice (e.g.,
working at a Veteran’s Administration Medical Center). Beyond
that, other issues become important for selecting a graduate
program, like program location.
How closely aligned should a prospective applicant’s and
professor’s research interests be?
La Greca: I would say, generally speaking, the closer the fit the
better. That’s because faculty are better able to train someone in an
area where they already have expertise. That being said, interests
that are strongly related to a faculty member’s expertise, but differ
a bit, could also be good. Two former students of mine are good
examples of that; neither student’s interests overlapped 100% with
my own. However, they were able to expand some of their focal
areas, which brought us to common ground. So I don’t think it has
to be an exact match, but it has to be something at least compatible
or complementary. Otherwise, you’re selecting the wrong mentor or
the wrong program. If your research interests don’t seem compatible
with your professor(s) of interest, then go back to the previous
question and reconsider if this the right program for you, and if this
is the right mentor for you.
Is there anything you wish you had known when applying to
psychology graduate programs?
La Greca: One thing that I would reemphasize is the importance of
the match between the applicant and the program, and how it’s up
to the applicant to make clear how and why that match exists. It’s
much better if applicants can be very specific about their interests
than if they write something general, like “you have an excellent
clinical child program, and I want to be a part of that clinical child
Valentina A. Podkowirow is a fourth year undergraduate
at the University of Miami. She is studying to receive her
bachelor’s of science in psychology with a minor in chemistry.
Ms. Podkowirow is working as a research assistant under the
supervision of Dr. Annette La Greca. She is currently examining
post-disaster functioning, as well as the potential moderating
effect of disclosure on the relationship between peer
victimization and somatic symptoms.
COPYRIGHT © 2012 PSI CHI
program.” It would be better if they could describe something about
that graduate program’s experiences or the mentors who are there as
being important for furthering what that person wants to do in his
or her career.
Once you are in the field of psychology, what sustains you?
La Greca: Well, being a professional psychologist is definitely not a
nine-to-five job, so if you’re looking for that type of environment,
you probably don’t want to consider graduate training in psychology.
But, there are a number of things that sustain me [and others]. I’ve
always been someone who’s really curious and eager to learn; I like
learning new things, so it’s probably great that I’m a professor.
Being within an academic environment, you’re always learning
something new!
Another thing that sustains me is having a diversity of interests.
I enjoy doing a lot of things, which is feasible in psychology, because
it’s such a diverse field. If you get tired of studying child health, for
example, you can move on to study child psychopathology. There
are many different things you can look at.
Another thing I value highly is my independence. It really is up
to me to determine what I want to work on. I could totally change
my interests tomorrow and it would be perfectly fine. You don’t
feel like you’re “stuck in a rut,” the way you can at a job where you
have very specific duties that don’t change over time. I have a lot
of freedom to choose what I want to work on and how I spend my
time.
Yet another thing that’s sustaining is the ability to interact with
others who have similar interests and goals. I find that people
in psychology are very like-minded. They’re enthusiastic about
similar things. People in psychology—whether they’re researchers,
clinicians, or in administrative roles—often have a genuine caring
for people or desire to make people’s lives better. People within
psychology also value diversity, and it’s nice to be in a profession
where many people hold similar perspectives and values. I have
friends who are in careers outside of psychology, and, after a while,
a number of them feel like they’re stuck or stagnant. I’ve never felt
that way in psychology; there’s always something interesting and
always some new development. And the people in the field are great.
So, all those things sustain me. Plus, I get to attend meetings that are
sometimes in great locations, and that helps since I like to travel.
Look for Part II of this series in an upcoming issue of Eye on Psi Chi. Don’t miss Dr. La
Greca’s advice regarding the experiences and qualifications an ideal prospective graduate
school applicant should have.
Betty Lai, PhD, MST, is a child psychologist currently
completing a postdoctoral fellowship with the Department of
Pediatrics at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine.
She graduated from the clinical psychology program at the
University of Miami (Child Track), and she completed her clinical
internship at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford/
Children’s Health Council.
WINTER 2012 | EYE ON PSI CHI
17
Preparing
for Your
Career
With a Psychology Degree
Ronald G. Shapiro, PhD
Independent Consultant in Human Factors, Learning
and Human Resources
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EYE ON PSI CHI | WINTER 2012
COPYRIGHT © 2012 PSI CHI
Career Preparation
psychology degree can provide an
outstanding background for almost any
career you choose to pursue. However,
some of these career opportunities may not
be obvious, and finding an optimal way to
prepare for these opportunities may be challenging. Let’s look at some of these career
opportunities and how to prepare for them.
A
Helping Professions
Careers in the helping professions provide
an excellent opportunity to help people and
organizations, to contribute to basic science,
to improve the quality of life and possibly
even save lives. Choices are varied and
include working as a researcher, practitioner
or both in psychology (clinical, counseling,
community, school) and social work. The
psychology of aging and neuropsychology
may well be the most promising career
opportunities in the helping professions.
Significant growth oriented positions
require advanced degrees such as a PhD, a
PsyD or possibly a Master’s (in psychology
or social work). Although you also can pursue a career in these areas with a bachelor’s
degree, positions typically are not growth
oriented, even though they might be enjoyable positions for a few years. In the long
term, it may be very frustrating to watch
colleagues with advanced degrees grow in
the field while you do not. If you select a
bachelor’s level undergraduate degree job in
psychology, do so with the intent of moving
to either graduate school or another career
within two to three years.
Teaching
Teaching at the elementary or secondary
school level is another option. Knowledge
of psychology is helpful throughout a teaching career. For a public school position, you
must achieve certification by taking the requisite courses and completing the required
practicums. To teach psychology you must,
in most cases, also be certified to teach social
studies.
You might also teach at the college level.
If you chose to do so full time, you will most
likely have research, teaching and service
responsibilities at your college or university.
Different schools will weigh these three areas
differently in terms of importance. In most
cases, the most important of these three
areas for hiring, retention and promotion
is research—establishing a track record of
publishing your work in refereed journals.
COPYRIGHT © 2012 PSI CHI
Securing your own funding from contracts
and grants is becoming increasingly important at many academic institutions. You
might also do part time teaching at a college
or university in addition to your full time
professional position.
Industry
There are numerous career opportunities available in industry. Two of these
areas—industrial/organizational psychology
and human factors/ergonomics/applied
experimental psychology/engineering psychology—have established career paths and
are likely to be growth areas as well.
Industrial/organizational (I/O)
psychology. In this field, there are a variety
of opportunities:
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programs to help an organization achieve
its full potential.
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through observation and surveys, and
make recommendations based upon your
findings.
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existing techniques to assess job
applicants, candidates for promotion,
management candidates, and executive
candidates.
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programs to help employees, managers
and executives to improve their job
performance.
By improving corporate performance, the
corporate working environment and morale,
you might help more people than a private
practitioner in a community psychology
practice.
To learn more about I/O Psychology
take I/O classes offered in most psychology departments and check the websites
of the following American Psychological
Association (APA) divisions:
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Psychologists (14; www.siop.org)
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Human factors/ergonomics/applied
experimental psychology/engineering
psychology. The opportunities in this area
include:
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human behavior which practitioners
might use to design, develop, and
evaluate products and systems to be safer,
easier, and more fun to use.
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other technical and business professionals
to design, develop, and evaluate products
and systems based upon the scientific
literature.
Specialties include design of aircraft,
air traffic control systems, hospitals, medical devices, automobiles, trains, military
systems, home design for aging populations,
computers, cell phones, other portable
electronic devices, games, web sites, building
layout, and educational systems.
In this field you would potentially save
more lives and improve the quality of life
for more people than if you were a clinician
in private practice because your design
improvement might, for example, prevent an
airplane from crashing. One huge difference
between saving lives as a human factors/
ergonomics professional and saving lives
as a helping professional in private practice
is that you will not know whose life you
saved as a HF/E professional (it may be your
own), much as a medical professional who
develops a vaccine that saves numerous
thousands of lives would not know whose
life they saved.
To learn more about this area of psychology, take an introductory course if one
is offered, or read Donald Norman’s The
Psychology of Everyday Things (also published as The Design of Everyday Things). The
book may be borrowed from most libraries
and is easily read in a single evening. Check
the following websites.
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(www.hfes.org)
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and Engineering Psychology (www.
BQBPSH
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for high school psychology teachers:
Applying Psychology to Real World
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powerpoint.aspx)
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Psychology (www.apa.org/about/
EJWJTJPOEJWBTQY
Other industrial careers. The psychology
degree is also excellent preparation for many
WINTER 2012 | EYE ON PSI CHI
19
Career Preparation
Melissa Robin
University of Central Florida (UCF)
Undergraduate Psychology Major
etting involved early during my
undergraduate career changed my life.
Taking research methods and advanced
research methods as a sophomore opened
many doors for my undergraduate research
career. From there, I was able to learn the
research process, but most of all figure out
exactly what I wanted to research and what I
wanted to do with my life. Don’t be afraid to
explore different research ideas. Just because
faculty members are not doing particular
research doesn’t mean they aren’t interested
in an area you are interested in. Don’t ever
get discouraged. Be proactive. Never give
up on your dreams. You create your own
undergraduate experience, so make the best
of it.
G
Melissa
Author Note. Ms. Robin is an outstanding example of a student
who is maximizing the value of her quest for a psychology
degree (and maintaining an excellent school-work-life
balance). As a sophomore in 2009, she was already an active
participant in a research lab and attending programs intended
for graduate students and faculty. Ms. Robin has presented at
the Association for Psychological Sciences Convention and the
APA Annual Meeting, in addition to developing several articles
for publication. She is currently serving as president of UCF Psi
Chi for 2011–12.
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EYE ON PSI CHI | WINTER 2012
other careers. Although the psychology
degree may not be essential or even
suggested for an entry-level position, the
knowledge of how people think and behave
can be beneficial for better job performance.
Some of these careers are listed below.
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For the above careers additional
training (and possibly a dual major) in the
specific subject matter would be an asset,
if not essential to obtain an initial job. The
psychology degree will help you to become
established and to grow in the field.
Freedom vs Supervision
in Course Work
Perhaps one of the greatest attractions to
selecting a psychology major is that you
have a tremendous amount of freedom in
selecting your course work. You can learn
about the breadth of the field of psychology
as well as pursue in great depth one or
two areas of interest. Unfortunately, most
students do not do this, and as a result,
these students may not achieve as much
as they might like. Indeed, some of them
even complain that their degree was of
very limited value (or worthless). Since
there is freedom rather than supervision in
course selection, psychology majors have
the obligation to do planning that would
often be done for them if they had selected
a degree in another discipline such as
electrical engineering or chemistry.
Maximizing the Value of
Your Psychology Degree
You can maximize the value of your
psychology degree by heeding the following
suggestions:
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courses as early as possible in your
academic career.
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from day one.
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well. Can you describe their research
in a manner that they would consider
satisfactory? If the faculty member has
children, do you know their names?
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faculty members research to the point
that they would consider that you were a
very valuable member of their research
team.
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or second author on an article or two (or
at least a published acknowledgement in
several articles) before graduation.
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or Psi Chi and your psychology club.
If your school does not have an active
Psi Beta or a Psi Chi chapter, you
have the opportunity to work with
your department chair to organize or
reactivate one.
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positions. Once you achieve these
positions, you should work to achieve a
few significant accomplishments.
By following this path you will have learned
how to:
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more senior members);
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You will have an excellent story to tell
as you prepare for graduate school or work
applications. Most likely, you also will have
among the best recommendations from
faculty, which should help you secure a
well-funded position in graduate school or
an excellent position in industry. And, all of
this can be done while still maintaining an
excellent school-work-life balance.
COPYRIGHT © 2012 PSI CHI
Career Preparation
Minimizing the Value of
Your Psychology Degree
On occasion you may hear students or
graduates with an undergraduate psychology
degree complain that their degree did
not help them at all. Chances are they did
everything possible to minimize the value of
their degree while in school.
Some of the behaviors exhibited by
students which minimize the value of their
degree include:
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late in their academic career, perhaps
senior year;
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so that they never really meet the faculty;
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away from the psychology department;
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Chi, Psi Beta, psychology club and other
similar programs, although they may
belong and attend an occasional program;
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research participation without asking any
questions or getting to understand the
underlying research;
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research beyond course requirements;
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semester ends;
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exams; and
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hours only if they are arguing about an
exam result, trying to recover from their
poor academic performance, or trying to
schedule a make-up exam.
Preparing Your
Career Plan and Resume
Having a career plan or career plans and up
to date resume are beneficial for students
from middle school to graduate school. If
you are not sure what career you would like
to explore, prepare a plan for each career.
The planning process alone may help you to
make intelligent choices.
1. Exploration. As a first step explore the
careers mentioned earlier in this article.
Check with your school counseling office.
They will have lists of all sorts of careers
(as well as measurement instruments
which may help you to narrow some of
your choices). Look over the lists and
COPYRIGHT © 2012 PSI CHI
derive your own list of potential careers.
Basic Research and Investigation—
Reading. Read literature on what people
do in the careers. For psychology careers
check out the above websites. For other
disciplines check out their professional
organization websites.
Advanced Investigation—Networking.
Network (i.e., meet and talk) with people
in the various careers. Faculty and your
college/university placement office
should be able to help you find alumni or
colleagues in the professions you may be
interested in exploring.
4. Initial Ideal Resume Development.
Once you narrow your choice to a
single career (or a few careers) prepare
a resume for the ideal entry-level job
candidate for that profession in the
next few years. Write your name at the
top of the page. Include a very clear
objectives section that explains why the
job candidate is the ideal fit for the job.
Include lots of meaningful academic and
internship experiences. Be very specific
about the accomplishments for each of
the positions listed. Wherever possible,
write in true experiences you have had
to strengthen the resume. Review the
resume and verify with at least one or two
professionals in the field that this resume
would belong to the absolutely ideal job
candidate.
5. Preparation of Your Action Plan.
Highlight all of the items in your ideal job
candidate resume that do not yet apply to
you. Now prepare an action plan which
will assure that when you graduate with
your terminal degree, be it a bachelors,
masters or doctoral degree, the resume
will be a true reflection of you.
6. Completion of Your Action Plan.
Complete your action plan over the next
several years, revising and editing the
action plan and ideal candidate resume
as necessary as you achieve your results.
Be sure to keep track of everything you
accomplish including the project name,
a brief description of the project, an indepth description of what you did that
made the project a success, and how
you know it was successful. Include this
information on your ideal candidate
resume as well as on an actual resume.
or two doing an industrial internship,
doing work similar to what you would
do in your profession. If your plans
call for a career in service, spend a
summer or two doing a service-related
internship. If your plans call for graduate
school (other than possibly an MBA),
spend your other summers working
in a research environment. Now listen
carefully! While you would like to get
paid well for doing these experiences, it
is possible that you may not get paid at
all. In any case, do them!!! Long term,
financially, completing these types of
summer experiences will most likely pay
off far better than doing a typical student
summer job.
Go for It
Your psychology degree can and should
provide you with an outstanding
background for a career in academics,
government, industry and/or community
service. Remember to develop an effective
career plan, become involved in research,
your psychology department, and Psi Chi so
that it will. Let me know if I can be of help to
you. Best wishes for a bright future.
Dr. Ronald G. Shapiro is an
independent consultant in
human factors, ergonomics, and
learning and career development.
He received his BA from the
University of Rochester and his
MA and PhD from Ohio State
University in experimental
psychology. He is a certified
human factors professional
(CHFP #18, Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics)
and a fellow in APA and the Human Factors and Ergonomics
Society (HFES). He is a past-president of APA Division 21
(Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychology) and
the immediate past secretary-treasurer of HFES. He has
managed human factors/ergonomics, technical learning/
technical leadership, new employee orientation, employee
university education, and career coaching for IBM.
Dr. Shapiro frequently accepts invitations to address high
school and college psychology students, discussing career
development. He may be contacted at: Ronald G. Shapiro,
PhD, 17 Brookway Road, Providence RI 02906, (401) 2724664, DrRonShapiro1981@SigmaXi.Net
Author Note. I would like to thank Melissa Robin (Psi Chi
president at the University of Central Florida) and Arnold
(Arnie) Lund, PhD, Certified User Experience Professional
(CUXP), Principal Director of User Experience at Microsoft
for helpful comments on drafts of this article.
7. Summers. If your plans call for a career
in industry, be sure to spend a summer
WINTER 2012 | EYE ON PSI CHI
21